Chapter Thirty One
Linda's spirit hung in the air above her daughter inside the old cabin, staring in horror. Sandi lay on the dusty floor on her back, her legs drawn up against her body. Her clenched fists' pounded the floor in her pain. Sandi's enormous stomach bulged in an obscene parody of a normal pregnancy. Linda screamed at the agony her daughter was in. Was this why Sandi had vanished? To have a baby? Linda struggled to understand what she was seeing. Sandi had certainly not been wearing any loose baggy clothing lately. Just long sleeves and slacks, and shirts with high necks. Nothing unusual for winter weather. Or for a girl trying to hide the bruises on her arms and legs. Or her neck. Like the ones Linda's father had put on her own mother.
I did that? Did I really do all that to her? Did I let the boys do that, too? Why didn't Tom . . . ?
Sandi's lips were tattered from her gnashing teeth. Thin streaks of blood ran down her chin. Sandi's blouse and slacks had been ripped completely off her body. Sandi's wide eyes were encircled with deep dark hollows. Her skin, stretched tightly across her bones, was a pale, pasty yellow, which easily showed the bruises Sandi had all over her body. Thin streams of a yellowish red liquid oozed sullenly from the tips of her distended breasts. Blood slowly seeped out of her body between her jerking legs. Sandi's huge belly twitched and jerked. Linda stared numbly at her daughter.
Sandi's bare stomach bulged slowly out in Linda's direction. A small face, distorted by the skin pulled tightly across it, stared at Linda for a long minute, then sank back away from the surface. Sandi's mother just hung there, silent, apathetic.
Lying next to Sandi on the cold dirty floor was a massive shape, all arms and legs, curled into a fetal position. Its breath hissed out loudly through it's yellowed, jagged, uneven teeth. Its knees and elbows were swollen, as were its massive feet. One huge claw jutted out of the center of each one. A scattering of bones lay on the floor around the creature. Oddly, like a child, it cradled a small round object to its emaciated ribs like a favorite toy. Long, silky black hair shielded it from Linda's view.
The creature's unseen eyes bulged under its yellowed, pasty skin. Bloody tears seeped out, running down the creature's cheeks. No matter how long Linda stared at the creature, it never really grew distinct. Its image wavered, like that of a far off mirage seen in the heat of summer.
Then something flickered in the corner of her eye. Linda struggled to turn, to see what was going on, fighting for her daughters sake for the first in a long time.
I, I can do this! Sandi, Tom, Sam, Chris? Mom? What's happening to us? Did I cause all this to happen? No, it wasn't my fault! Sandi, why weren't you stronger? Tom, I loved you! Why did you always cave in to me? Why didn't you show some backbone for once and say something!
A clear, cold voice sounded behind the distraught woman's spirit.
"Because you didn't want them too."
A pale glow slowly appeared before Linda, hanging in midair. The transparent image flickered, wavering like the light of a candle. Its dirty ragged clothing hung loosely on it. Its long, silky black hair flowed toward Linda, hiding its face, only showing a flash of gleaming bone. Dark, reddish stains ran down its shoulders, and the front of the thin jacket it wore. It spoke again, and each expressionless word jabbed Linda's soul like a dagger. Tiffany's slow pronunciation of her words sounded like the rattling of chains.
"It's good to see you, Mrs. Griffin. Sandi will be so glad to see you. I wish I could go home, and see my mom, but I can't leave this place anymore."
"Tiffany? Is that you? What's happening here? What happened to you? Where's Stacy and Quinn?"
A flash of teeth was quickly concealed behind the ever flowing strands of hair.
"Yes, it's me, Mrs. Griffin. I'm de-ad now, you know. Quinn killed me, because of you."
The accusation was like a goad to Linda's tormented spirit.
"What!"
"Quinn crawled over to me, and ripped out my throat. She bit me, but Sandi did it first. It made them do it."
Tiffany's figure laughed wildly, showing a brief glimpse of what the flowing hair concealed.
"Stacy is still trying to get out, to find help, but why bother? I can hear the other ones now, all around us. They're all crazy. You know that? You know why? It's because we're all dead!"
Tiffany's clawlike hands reached for Linda.
"We were friends, you know that? Maybe we weren't much, but we still tried!"
Faces and figures appeared to surround the two women. Men, women, and children, mostly Native American, but a few dressed in early Colonial clothing swirled around them, silently. A thick cloud of despair, of unending torment poured out of them.
"You see them, Mrs. Griffin? That's all we are, that's all that's left of us! We're trapped here, with that, that thing! That's not even the worse of it! Do you know who that is?" Tiffany screamed, pointing at the creature besides Sandi.
The tattered eyeless remains of Tiffany's features glared at the helpless woman. Her flowing hair whipped back for a brief instant, then again shrouded her.
"But now, Stacy and I are dead! We can't go home anymore! Sandi is dying, and look at Quinn!
She's going to . . . "
A hissing roar filled the small cabin
Tiffany's voice showed a flash of fear, and she faded away. The creature stirred, stretched its long limbs lazily, and slowly opened its bulging eyes. They were a brilliant blue that pierced the shadows of the small cabin like searchlights. For one brief instant they plucked on Linda, drawing her inside the creature. Linda felt like she was being pulled inside a volcano. Animal rage, inhuman lust, and a very human hunger were like fangs pulling strips from her weakening spirit. Linda could smell old rot and decay, she saw stacks of moldering bones, human skulls everywhere, their tops ripped off, arm and leg bones split down the center.
A massive paw approached her, holding a hideous gift. A pulpy mass of curdled gray flesh, awash in an emptied skull, floating in the bloody broth.
Gift. Eat. Learn.
A hissing whisper promised her, tempted her.
Save your child, it hissed softly, save her son.
Far away, barely heard through the hissing, Linda could hear a tiny, shrill voice.
"No, Mrs. Griffin, don't do it! It's a trap! It's a lie! We're all lost already! Get out of here! It wants loose, to kill everybody!"
The familiar voice stirred Linda.
"Quinn?"
Like looking through the wrong end of a telescope, Linda saw a tiny picture. A figure in a cage with thick, white curved bars, screaming helplessly, vainly stretching her arms toward the other woman. Her once reddish hair was streaked with white, her lovely face was lined with scars, pulled tightly over underlying bone.
"Stop this! You're still alive! Save Daria, please! She's dying! Please help her!"
Then in a surge of raw hate Quinn shouted at the older woman.
"Haven't you done enough to all of us! Get out of here!"
Linda was shoved out of the cabin, high into the sky. The swirling clouds battered her spectral forms. She tumbled helplessly, feeling only a thin thread, pulling weakly at her, back to her body, far below in her house.
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Jane's world had been reduced to the movement of her hands and knees, the stinging sparks of cold burning her exposed skin. Only by keeping her mind focused, by picturing herself climbing stairs, the staircase to Daria's room, could she keep going, keep moving.
All around her she heard strange sounds, sounds of animals, water running, the murmur of almost human voices. The voices were pure music. She couldn't understand the words, but each one battered her, like a hammer forging a tool on a forge. Her spirit grew harder, like the strength of steel. Her Lane heritage of artistic striving was being honed, sharpened like a sword, by something she didn't dare look at.
"A sharp sword indeed, woman, one of my finest."
As Jane paused, the voice thundered, "No, keep moving! If you hesitate in your climb in the river of stars, all will be lost! You will be trapped in the outer darkness, where even gods fear to tread!"
Jane scrambled on, panting. The thin air now seemed to invigorate her, filling her shaking limbs with a clean, warm heat, an almost reckless exuberance. Filled with this new strength, Jane screamed out at her unseen helper.
"Please, help me! People are dying at home! Can you stop all this!"
"I can but show you what should be done. This is a matter of fear and desperation, where forces were stirred beyond the control of all involved. The strength is yours, woman, as it always has been. Search your heart. Save your friend, the little wise one."
"Daria?"
"Go, Jane Lane, use your heart and soul to guide you. Things happen here which shake the world, but for you, here, now, save your friend." The presence started to fade away.
"No!"Jane shouted.
"No?" the voice thundered, its power licking at Jane. "You seek to command me?"
"I, I just wanted to say," Jane gulped. "Thank you."
A vast quiet stilled the noise of the river. Not amusement, but a deep appreciation seemed to fill the world.
"I am seldom recognized, or even thanked. Go with power, Jane Lane, and remember, you will need your other two friends to help you."
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Stacy raged in her underground tomb. She felt the creature's madness, saw how it poisoned Tiffany's thoughts, turned her natural bitterness into a raw hate. She still couldn't move a muscle, and she couldn't reach Tiffany any more, only hear Tiffany's fear turning into a choking rage. The creature grew stronger, and looked down at Stacy, it's blue eyes easily piercing the rock and soil. It gently placed it's small ball on Sandi's heaving chest, brushing the long dark hair back from the skulls face.
Stacy saw the faces of children flicker through the surface of it's mind, vaguely recognized some of them as children she or the other members of the former Fashion Club had babysat for. Particularly the face of Tricia Gupty. The creature carefully hunted through Quinn's mind for it's prey. The face of every child Quinn had ever cared for flickered, the massive creature sniffing eagerly. It shambled to its feet, it's tall gaunt form cramped in the small cabin. It grinned down at the captive Stacy, turned sideways, and vanished.
But Stacy heard it's hissing roar now outside the cabin, moving towards Lawndale. The fading echo of Quinn's screams slowly died.